Who Are You: The Who Announce Super Deluxe Edition of Final Studio Album Recorded With Keith Moon
by Best Classic Bands Staff
The Who have announced plans for a Super Deluxe Edition of 1978’s Who Are You, the band’s eighth studio album, and final one released with their founding drummer Keith Moon. The October 31, 2025, release includes a suite of formats including the SDE, with over 70 previously unreleased tracks featuring never-before-heard mixes, alternate takes, newly mixed live tracks from their first tour without Moon and candid recordings of the band rehearsing in 1977 and 1978. Also included in the 7-CD/1 Blu-ray set are brand-new Atmos and Stereo mixes by Steven Wilson. It’s available to pre-order in the U.S. here, in Canada here and in the U.K. (coming here).
The album will also be released as a deluxe 4-LP box set, a 2-CD deluxe edition, and limited-edition yellow colored and half-speed master vinyl editions.
Initially released on August 18, 1978*, Who Are You reached #2 on the Billboard album chart and #6 in the U.K. Moon died just weeks later, on September 7. The album cover famously depicts the band with Moon seated, with the words “NOT TO BE TAKEN AWAY” on the back of his chair.
From the September 2 announcement: The album saw the band—Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle and Moon—pushing boundaries once more, with the songs referencing the incoming influence of British punk. Most notably, the title track was written after a night out with Steve Jones and Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols, and it reflected the sentiments of “Music Must Change” and “Sister Disco.” Pete Townshend also delivered some of his most ambitious and intricate arrangements, incorporating layers of synthesizers and strings into The Who’s powerful backing tracks.
Listen to “New Song” with lead vocals by Townshend (instead of Roger Daltrey who sang lead on the originally released version)
The title track preceded the album in early July and became an instant anthem that has remained in the band’s set list to this day. The Who have begun their “The Song Is Over” farewell tour; tickets are available at Ticketmaster and here.
This ad for the album appeared in the August 26, 1978 issue of Record World.
*Though there is some debate regarding the actual Who Are You release date, the group’s website uses August 18, 1978.
The initial sessions for the album took place at the band’s Ramport Studios, produced by Glyn Johns and Jon Astley. However, the recording process was fraught with challenges and creative tensions. The Who Are You Super Deluxe Edition finally tells the whole story, featuring, for the first time, the rejected original Glyn Johns mix of the album, a newly remastered version of the released Jon Astley mix and fly-on-the-wall rehearsal sessions from Shepperton Studios, which the band owned at the time, and a wealth of unreleased material including demos, alternate takes and in the case of “Sister Disco,” a “lost” guitar solo rescued from the multi-track tapes by Wilson.
In 1978, the album was seen as a return to form for The Who, and anticipation for a tour to support the album was high. Moon’s death postponed those plans. The band introduced their new drummer, Kenney Jones, formerly of Faces and Small Faces, in May 1979, along with new keyboard player John “Rabbit” Bundrick.
The Super Deluxe Edition includes a 100-page hardback book with extensive sleeve notes by Matt Kent covering the period before and after the album’s release, plus track-by-track details, and session notes, as well as sleeve notes by Wilson on his remixes for Dolby Atmos. The book is lavishly illustrated with previously unpublished photographs, memorabilia, tape boxes and original print ads.
A limited-edition deluxe vinyl box set features a four-LP set on 180-gram vinyl, including the original album newly remastered, plus live recordings from the 1979 U.S. tour. The lift-top box includes 1 LP in a single sleeve and 3 LPs in a triple gatefold sleeve, together with a 28-page soft cover book. (Links are coming.)
The 2-CD set is available for pre-order in the U.S. here, in Canada here and in the U.K. here. A half-speed master vinyl edition is available in the U.S. here, in Canada here and in the U.K. here.
THE WHO – WHO ARE YOU SUPER DELUXE EDITION Track Listing
DISC ONE: Who Are You (Remastered)
New Song
Had Enough
905
Sister Disco
Music Must Change
Trick Of the Light
Guitar And Pen
Love Is Coming Down
Who Are You
DISC TWO: Glyn John Mix (except where noted), all previously unreleased
New Song
Had Enough
905
Sister Disco
Trick of The Light
Guitar and Pen
Who Are You
Trick of The Light (Single Version Edit)
Guitar and Pen
Who Are You (Single edit)
New Song (Townshend Vocal – Steven Wilson mix)
Sister Disco (Lost Guitar Mix- Steven Wilson mix)
Had Enough (No Orchestra- Steven Wilson mix)
Guitar and Pen (Townshend Guide Vocal- Steven Wilson mix)
Love Is Coming Down (No Orchestra- Steven Wilson mix)
Who Are You (Early Run Through – Townshend Vox- Steven Wilson mix)
DISC THREE: Sessions & Demos
Who Are You (Lost Verse Mix)
Guitar and Pen (Olympic 78 Mix)
Love Is Coming Down (Early Run Through)
Empty Glass (Session Out Take)
No Road Romance (Session Out Take)
Trick of the Light (Unused Olympic Edit) Previously Unreleased
Who Are You (Clean Radio Edit)
905 (Entwistle Demo) Previously Unreleased
Had Enough (Entwistle Demo) Previously Unreleased
Back On the Road (Entwistle Demo)
Wild Horses (Entwistle Demo)
Trick of the Light (Entwistle Demo) Previously Unreleased
Good Time Coming (Entwistle Demo) Previously Unreleased
Who Are You (Entwistle and Cyrano’s mix from The Kids Are Alright film soundtrack)
DISC FOUR: Shepperton Studios 1977 (except where noted), all previously unreleased
Who Are You (Early version recorded live in Toronto, 1976)
The Kids Are Alright
Run, Run, Run
Spoonful / Smokestack Lightning
I Saw Her Standing There
Instrumental Jam
Who Are You (Knocking It into Shape 1)
Who Are You (Knocking It into Shape 2)
Baba O’Riley
Shakin’ All Over
Bell Boy
Won’t Get Fooled Again
Barbara Ann
I Saw Her Standing There (2)
Drowned
DISC FIVE: Shepperton Studios 1978/79, all previously unreleased
Baba O’Riley (Shepperton for The Kids Are Alright 1978)
My Wife (Shepperton for The Kids Are Alright 1978)
My Generation (Shepperton for The Kids Are Alright 1978)
Join Together (Shepperton for The Kids Are Alright 1978)
Who Are You (Shepperton for The Kids Are Alright 1978)
Won’t Get Fooled Again (Shepperton for The Kids Are Alright 1978)
Sister Disco (Shepperton Tour Rehearsal 1979)
Music Must Change (Shepperton Tour Rehearsal 1979)
Won’t Get Fooled Again (Shepperton Tour Rehearsal 1979)
Who Are You (Shepperton Tour Rehearsal 1979)
[CDs 6 & 7: Live recordings from the 1979 U.S. tour, including tracks recorded at the Pontiac Silverdome, the Spectrum in Philadelphia and the Masonic Temple in Detroit.]
DISC SIX: Live U.S.A. 1979 – Part One, all previously unreleased
Substitute
I Can’t Explain
Baba O’Riley
The Punk and the Godfather
Boris the Spider
Sister Disco
Behind Blue Eyes
Music Must Change
Drowned
Who Are You
5.15
Pinball Wizard
See Me, Feel Me
DISC SEVEN: Live U.S.A. 1979 – Part Two, all previously unreleased
Long Live Rock
My Generation
I Can See for Miles
Trick Of the Light
Sparks
Won’t Get Fooled Again
Jam /Take A Fool Like You
How Can You Do It Alone
Magic Bus
Summertime Blues
Dancing in the Street / Dance It Away
The Real Me
BLU-RAY: Steven Wilson Mix (Previously Unreleased)
ATMOS
New Song
Had Enough
905
Sister Disco
Music Must Change
Trick Of the Light
Guitar And Pen
Love Is Coming Down
Who Are You
5.1 MIX
New Song
Had Enough
905
Sister Disco
Music Must Change
Trick Of the Light
Guitar And Pen
Love Is Coming Down
Who Are You
STEREO
New Song
Had Enough
905
Sister Disco
Music Must Change
Trick Of the Light
Guitar And Pen
Love Is Coming Down
Who Are You
The Super Deluxe Edition is available to pre-order in the U.S. here, in Canada here and in the U.K. (coming here).
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